A Caymanian businessman who faces criminal charges in the U.S. over allegations of attempted money laundering and drug smuggling was scheduled to be moved back to a federal prison in Puerto Rico Thursday.
According to documents filed in the U.S. District Court of Puerto Rico, Bryce Merren and his attorneys met at the Atlanta, Georgia, prison where he was being held to discuss a possible plea deal to the charges, but apparently those discussions were interrupted.
“Due to a riot that took place at the institution, we only had one opportunity to visit [Merren],” his attorney Jennie Espada noted in a statement filed with the court. “Once Merren arrives at Puerto Rico, we will keep discussing the [court] documents with him.”
According to records filed in U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico, a judge has already extended the time line for plea negotiations in Merren’s case until Sept. 19, with corresponding motions due by Sept. 29. If no agreement can be reached, a trial date has been scheduled in San Juan, Puerto Rico, for Oct. 10.
Merren is charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics and intent to sell, distribute or dispense cocaine under U.S. federal criminal law. He also faces an additional count of money laundering of monetary instruments.
Merren’s attorney has made no secret of the fact that a plea agreement would be her preferred course of action in the case.
“Certainly this attorney can categorically state we will not recommend trial to this client based on the weight of the evidence, amongst other reasons,” Ms. Espada noted in documents filed in U.S. federal court. “At this point, we believe he will not exercise his right to trial.”
According to publicly available court records in the U.S., a probable cause affidavit filed by Homeland Security Special Agent Harry Schmidt alleges that Merren met at different times with two undercover federal agents who posed as accomplices in setting up a drug smuggling operation in Puerto Rico. The records allege that Merren intended to use certain business interests in the Cayman Islands and the southern Caribbean island of Curaçao to help launder the money.
Agent Schmidt’s probable cause affidavit states that U.S. federal investigators in San Juan received confidential information in July 2013 that Merren was “seeking to purchase approximately 3,000 kilograms of cocaine and establish a U.S. bank account in order to deposit drug proceeds and make an initial payment for the transportation of narcotics.”
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